Darkest Hour

by Twilight is Magic

7. Checkmate

Closer to the castle, the road evened out and became nearly flat. Having run up the smoothest part of the slope, it turned to follow the side of the mountain in a wavering line. The ponies’ destination was already in clear sight; there were no signs of the magical shield the castle was supposed to be protected by in case of danger, but Star Swirl did not know whether it was a good sign or not.

Neither he nor anypony else dared to take their eyes off the surrounding terrain. Everything continued to be strangely calm and peaceful, which, given the numbers the enemy had shown itself to possess, only meant they were waiting to strike. Everypony remained on edge, staring at boulders littering the slope either side of the road, watchful for any kind of movement. Some were also watching the skies above, wary that the clouds were just as likely to be used by the winged monsters to launch a surprise attack. An extremely tense silence hung in the air, interrupted only by the ponies’ hoofsteps on the muddy road and the incessant pattering of the rain.

As the road rounded a large mossy boulder, Lieutenant Moonlight raised a hoof, commanding everypony to stop. Star Swirl quickly turned to look where she was looking, thinking she’d spotted something, but the mare merely gestured for them to gather up.

“Here’s what we’re doing from here on,” she began in a quiet, clear voice when it was done. “We cover the remaining ground at as quick a canter as we can manage. Keep to the sidelines, the mud will only slow you down. When we reach the gates, we call the watchponies and they let us in. Then, Opal Beam and his squad go and check on the Keepers, and I take the rest of you to make sure the King and the civilians are safe. Then, we gather the wizards in the throne room and help them work out a new plan.”

“What if the changelings are already inside?” Star Swirl asked tentatively once she finished.

“Then we’ll have to improvise. We can only hope they aren’t. Try to make sure it’s really a pony you’re talking to. Ask them something. And always be on your guard. Anything else?” Answered with silence, Moonlight gave a curt nod and made a motion with her hoof again, ordering the party to move out.

Star Swirl followed the others around the bend, starting at a trot and gradually picking up the pace. Although he was beginning to feel quite tired from all the day’s adventures, he was not about to fall behind; after all, his survival could very well depend on whether he ran or not, which suppressed any urges to slow down. Kicking up the dirt, the group of ponies began to rush across the final stretch of the road that gently turned towards the hamlet in front of the castle bridge.

His eyes kept darting to the sides, towards the many boulders scattered here and there all over the slope. Star Swirl didn’t fancy himself a tactical genius, but if the changelings were going to ambush them at all, it was going to happen right there and—

One of the darker boulders he glanced at sprang up from the grass and leapt up into the air, spreading a pair of tattered wings and launching itself towards the ponies. Immediately, more “boulders” on either side of the road did the same.

“AMBUSH!” he cried out, nearly in unison with a few others.

“Keep running!” came Moonlight’s instant response from somewhere at the front. Star Swirl turned his head and pointed his horn at the first ambusher, which was rapidly closing in, and then launched a quick bolt-form knockback spell. By sheer luck, it found its mark and caused it to forcefully crash into the slope behind it. At the same time, a flash of Nightshade’s purple magic from ahead announced the fall of another attacker.

This left ten changelings barreling towards the ponies from both sides, as well as from behind. ‘And that’s against twenty ponies. We can take them,’ Star Swirl thought. Another part of his mind, however, reminded him that there were at least more than a hundred of the beasts, and it was simply impossible for just ten to lie in wait for them.

As if on cue, another call from the lieutenant rang out: “Faster, everypony! Full gallop, NOW!” Star Swirl pushed himself to run faster, keeping up with the others as they accelerated, and risked a glance over his shoulder. What he saw made his body pick up more speed entirely by itself: a great swarm of monsters, several times their own number, was emerging out of the woods they’d left behind and heading after them like a sentient, malevolent cloud of smoke.

He fixed his stare on the road ahead, beating his hooves against it madly as he put every last bit of effort into running as fast as he could, and it seemed that everypony else did just the same. His ears picked up the enemy swarm’s distant buzz, growing closer and louder by the moment, but he tried to shut it out. It was becoming harder to breathe, and his injured and hastily mended forehoof was beginning to ache, but if it was possible to choose the pace before, it was not now. Star Swirl literally ran for his life, mind clear of everything but fear and a wish to survive.

As the ponies were about halfway through their dash towards the castle, a burst of purple magic flew towards the sky from Lieutenant Moonlight’s horn and flared brightly. If anypony was still on guard in the castle, it would’ve been extremely hard for them to fail to notice the swarming monsters, but the flare, burning brightly for a few moments and illuminating all the surrounding landscape in mystic purples, was certain to attract somepony’s attention.

The original ten ambushers continued to pursue them as they ran on, but did not seem to try to close the remaining gap between themselves and their quarry. Instead, they were flying on either side of the group, staying near the ponies. There were several flashes of magic from the running guardsponies, but none of them managed to score a hit, the beasts easily dodging the poorly-aimed attacks. At the same time, the noise of the great swarm behind them was growing alarmingly quickly, which could only mean that they could go faster than that. Why weren’t they?

As they reached the outlying homes of the hamlet in front of the castle, the vanguard of the changeling swarm was just a few pony lengths behind their tails. The slowest runners began to falter and struggle to maintain speed, but strangely, the beasts did not seem to want to take advantage of that. Instead, most continued to chase the party while others split up and flanked it, not seeming about to strike either but blocking all passages through the gaps between houses.

The group of ponies sped across the hamlet and reached the bridge. The changelings rolled around and above the houses like a great wave, but suddenly and rapidly began to slow down once the unicorns charged past the last building. Surprised, Star Swirl looked back at them as he galloped down the bridge among the first of the ponies.

Then there was a muted, low-pitched ‘wooom’, which he barely noticed through the rushing wind in his ears. It was followed by his hooves and chest impacting against something, which bounced him backwards and into a guardspony, nearly knocking her over. Staggering, Star Swirl turned to look at the unexpected obstacle and froze.

Right in front of him, gently curving around the entirety of the castle and shimmering with sparks of magenta, was the great magical barrier.

~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

Sunflower sat by the side of a prone guardspony, levitating a bucket of water to the healer tending to his injuries. There were numerous cuts, lacerations and other wounds, but, according to the healer mare, none of them life-threatening. She leaned towards him and whispered softly: “Don’t worry. It will be alright,” but the stallion probably couldn’t hear her, put to merciful sleep by the healer’s spells.

She was wishing for it all to be a bad dream, but at the same time knew it was real. They were stuck in a cave, so many were wounded, all medical aids ran out hours ago, and now food was almost gone too. As for water, the few intact vessels found in the cave had to be brought outside and filled with rainwater, and only after magical cleansing was it possible to use it for anything. There were two barrels by one of the ceiling supports, containing the last remaining water supply—since the outrunners departed, everypony hunkered down inside the cave and didn’t dare to go and refill them.

Sunflower turned to look at the dark mouth of the tunnel, the only exit from the cave. She shivered with anxiety, hoping fervently that the plan would be successful, and didn’t dare to let herself think of the consequences of otherwise. Instead, her mind conjured the memory of the battlefield, which was probably worse: the horrible hissing growls and roars, the dark monsters buzzing overhead, falling upon everypony and mauling and rending and biting—all of this rushed to fill her head, and she almost yelped out loud, trying to stop the surge of fearful recollection.

As she always did in such situations, she turned this way and that, trying to find Dawn Gleam among the ponies in the cave. Finally, she spotted his dirt-matted, but nonetheless distinctive orange cape in between a pair of guardsponies not far from the tunnel, and, seeing that the healer mare no longer needed her help, darted towards him.

He looked in her direction as she approached, and his expression shifted from stern neutrality to a soft smile. “Is anything wrong, Sunflower?” he said warmly.

“No, not really. I just...” she began awkwardly, but stopped as her mentor looked at her with a knowing, reassuring gaze. The two guards he was with, a stallion and a mare who she recognized as Comet Trail, nodded in understanding.

“Don’t worry. I’m here. We’re going to win, Sunflower. Stop worrying yourself silly,” he said, reaching a hoof out to touch her chin and raise it slightly, looking her in the face.

She smiled, feeling the fearful apparitions in her mind drain away under Dawn Gleam’s warm eyes. Sunflower felt safer by just being near the stallion. He’d always been so supportive, caring, kind—what an ideal father should be. Like an ideal parent she never had. She would never have been able to achieve as much as she already did if he hadn’t taken her in. And in the Keeper’s soft gaze, she could see that he cared for her as he would after his own daughter, which he’d proven many times over through word and deed alike.

There was a piercing screech from the tunnel. The sudden noise made Sunflower twist around just in time to see a monster leaping at her, its terrible sharp-toothed maw wide open and its eyes burning with malice even through their solid cyan colour. Fear jolted through her body and mind alike, rooting her in place, helpless before the beast.

Comet Trail snapped around with quickness surprising for somepony in such heavy armour. A sword flew out of a scabbard on her back in a haze of magic, whirling in the air as it interposed itself between Sunflower and the airborne monster. Before it could react, the weapon swung in a vertical arc and shot upwards, slicing through the beast’s chest and piercing its head. The sword’s tip emerged between the changeling’s baleful eyes, which immediately lost their fire as its body jerked once and swung downwards, hanging limply off the sword.

Sunflower stood transfixed by the sight. The guard mare proceeded to magically pull the sword back out of the monster. It was stained with some sort of ichor, and as she swung it aside, readying for another attack, some of it flew off and splattered across Sunflower’s head and mane. An overwhelming bout of nausea hit her, which she contained, but only just.

There were more howls and screeches in the tunnel, not very far away. They were followed by Dawn Gleam’s voice calling “Sunflower! Cast the barrier spell! We can’t let them in!”

Shaken, she felt herself beginning to lock up and freeze in terror. Looking at her mentor, however, she saw his expression—an unusual mix of reassurance and determination, as if he was silently saying ‘You can do it, and you have to.’ Her mind latched onto that, staving off the panic attack. She could do it, she was the only one who could, and everypony depended on her doing it. And she was not going to fail them.

Sunflower concentrated and rapidly wove together the barrier spell she’d chosen. Her horn flared with blue, and a curtain of magical energy shimmered into being across the mouth of the tunnel before her with a hum. The glow dissipated, but the shield remained, and so did the draw of the spell, manifesting itself as a curious sensation: it was as if she were the top half of an hourglass, with the spell sapping her power with nearly imperceptible slowness.

Just as she finished casting the barrier, the lit lantern in the tunnel beyond went out. Moments later, the magical wall crackled as a changeling slammed into it head-first, followed by another, and another, and many more. The tunnel, dammed by the shield, rapidly filled up with a throng of monsters pushing against it. Sunflower could hear their hissing calls and see their fearful shapes, but what she couldn’t feel was their impact against her magic, and despite the shock and fear that had nearly jumbled her mind, part of her felt an urge to smirk. She’d definitely chosen the right spell.

Dawn Gleam looked at her with pride, causing some of her fear to melt away. “Good job, Sunflower. Now you just need to keep the spell up.”

She nodded, looking at the beasts crowding outside the shield as they began to hammer on it. Her mentor’s continuing presence was calming her, stilling the storm of emotions and letting her mind slip into determined focus. She could do it. Barrier magic was what she knew best. No swarm of monsters was going to enter the cave, not while she was protecting it. She would not fail.

~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~

Queen Chrysalis was smiling. It was a rare smile, one of unrestrained joy and happiness. She had won. The unicorns were hers. Finally, after all the hunger and suffering, she and her changelings had a supply of love large enough to feed them all, without anything threatening to interrupt their feast. She thought of the power they all would gain from consuming the feelings of an entire kingdom and, unable and unwilling to restrain herself, burst into mirthful laughter.

The day had been just perfect. Despite the setbacks and troubles along the way, her plan had come to fruition. She almost felt thankful to the threat of the windigoes’ impending arrival: they’d spurred her to act sooner than she wanted, but seeing as victory was hers, it only meant she and her minions gained a comfortable feeding ground much sooner than expected. Given some time to consume the ponies’ love, they’d grow so powerful as to be unstoppable. Each of her subjects would count for a dozen of those frozen abominations! And so, yet another victory was all but secured for her kind.

She began to trot forwards in an excessively slow, indolent way, savouring the moment. Outside, the entertainment was ready and waiting for her. The last speck of unicorn resistance, pinned helplessly against their very own shield, just as she wanted. She smirked contentedly, admiring the precision with which she’d given the synchronous command for the spell to be cast to those ponies who were to maintain it. She certainly wouldn’t have managed something so graceful with the old magics. Her spells were the future. There were still weaknesses and irregularities, but they weren’t anything she couldn’t solve without giving them more practice.

Luckily, there were still two more pony tribes to test all of the spells on. Momentarily, she entertained the idea of simply imposing her dominion on them using the power gained from feeding on the unicorns, but discarded it as the reasons against this course of action presented themselves.

Firstly, it could diminish the amount of love she would gain. She didn’t want her little ponies dead, she wanted them subservient and ready for having whatever love they had harvested. They were more prone to hatred than love as they were, and diminishing their numbers would only be for the worse.

Secondly, it would’ve been far more convenient to subvert them. If she took care not to reveal the changelings’ presence, the ponies would remain ignorant of her takeover. That would put her in the perfect position for controlling them, with many more options than brute force. She could employ the tribes’ existing government to fool the populace, which could work well with the regimented society of the Pegasi, and control the smaller, tighter-knit communities of the Earth ponies using a more direct and magical approach.

And of course, beating and magicking everypony into submission was far more troublesome and less satisfying than undermining them with a beautiful and elegant scheme, expending little effort for great gains. It could’ve been enough for some other, lesser mind, but Chrysalis would not have been satisfied with such an inefficient way.

The pegasi had already proven themselves to be easy to fool: it only took a couple of fake messengers for them to forget about everything and unwittingly give her changelings complete freedom of action. They didn’t suspect anything, even when both the unicorns and the Earth ponies suddenly cut all ties and annulled every agreement via letters delivered at nearly the same time. Their stupidity was nothing short of astounding.

She paused midway through the great hall as another idea struck her. She could use her enemies to further her own goals. The windigoes’ arrival would’ve been the perfect explanation for the sudden discord among ponykind, and while she intended to crush the icy fiends into oblivion the moment they showed themselves anywhere near her lands, the ponies didn’t have to know that. She could use her empowered changelings to infiltrate the tribes, which would be much easier in an atmosphere of crisis. Using this as an inroad, she could subjugate the Earth ponies and the Pegasi quickly and neatly.

Chrysalis giggled to herself gleefully, resuming her slow walk of triumph. This seemed like the start of another good plan. Given some deliberation, it could just be the thing that would secure the changelings’ place as the rulers of ponykind and the world.

But it was time to let her mind relax a little bit. As she neared the great double doors leading outside, she thought about the more distant future. What was she going to do after all the work was done and the ponies were hers?

First of all, she’d have to preserve all three pony tribes, as each of them possessed some sort of skill that helped the other two to survive. The unicorns’ power over the sun and the moon meant she would have to keep them if she wanted the usual day cycle to continue; she wasn’t about to try to find out whether it would if the unicorns went extinct. The proficiency with weather control that the pegasi possessed made them valuable and easily maintained servants, and besides, she liked the weather’s ability to change, as it reminded her of the changelings’ shapeshifting. The Earth ponies were quite useful if she wanted to have easily grown food for the other two tribes, but their agriculture was often dependent on the other pony tribes’ unique abilities.

Agriculture. The notion lingered in her head as a smirk spread across her face. Yes, it was going to be just like the Earth ponies’ farming. She would cultivate and nurture her little ponies, exterminate the negative ideas such as hatred and discord like weeds and pests, help them find their love and then harvest their sweet, sweet emotions. She would split the ponies in love up and have a minion of hers impersonate both, so as to not let any of it be wasted. And being Queen, she would have the finest pick of only the sweetest and most intense feelings.

Chrysalis giggled uncontrollably as she thought of this happy future. Even the ponies would be unable to complain, had someone been asking their opinion. A love filled with peace and love and free of hatred and disharmony—was it not what they always wanted, what they always struggled for? Of course, their love would go to herself and her changelings, but they could only eat so much at a time. Clearly, her order was preferable to the life of misery and conflict they were leading.

She stopped before the exit, eyeing the intricately decorated doors in front of her. The future was bright and in her reach. However, there were still many things to be done to achieve it. After those silly guards were subdued, she only needed to have her subjects remove the traces of combat and inform the scared unicorns in the cellars that everything had been put right. And, of course, determine which of the ponies would be able to quickly provide food for her changelings, and visit the prisoner storage to do the same.

She pushed at the doors with her magic, and they flew open before her, crashing against the walls outside. What she was going to do later, was going to be done later. Now, however, was the time to enjoy herself and witness the end of the Unicorn kingdom.

Comments

[djthomp]

Go Sunflower!

[Twilight is Magic]

In addition to working on the next chapter's release iteration, I've begun a new round of mistake-sniping and cosmetic changes, starting with the first chapter. This is largely thanks to Hat, who has graciously agreed to look through the chapter and came back with lots of useful advice. I will continue to try and keep the new chapters as frequent as possible and apply the changes to the ones already up there when I feel them to be sufficient.
You won't find anything more significant than a couple added, removed or replaced words, but perhaps it looks better now. Let me know what you think.

[RTStephens]

The Changeling Queen has a very Dr. Doom vibe about her. She wants total control and feels she's the only one that can "save" the ponies from themselves.

Of course, Doom also was WAY too full of himself to notice any mistakes he made until it was too late. I have a feeling the queen will be kicking herself once those ponies that broke her will come back to bite her in the flank.

Keep it up!